Jetstar passenger with advanced prostate cancer 'kicked off flight'

When Toowoomba local Kevin Eden found out his beloved Chelsea football team was scheduled to play an exhibition match against Perth Glory on July 23 at Optus Stadium, he knew he had to go.

"Because of my cancer, I hadn't seen them for ages and it was on my bucket list so I had to do it," he tells 9Honey.

Kevin, 64, says he's followed the team since he was 12 -- with his family originating from England before immigrating to Victoria in 1973 -- ahead of a move to Queensland.

Kevin says he was meant to fly in and out on the same day before the incident occurred. (Getty)

"Peter Osgood was their top scorer then so he was my hero," he says. The first time Kevin had seen Chelsea play was in 1977 when he flew back for a two-week break.

Kevin was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2014 which has since developed into metastatic prostate cancer which isn’t curable, but can be treated.

He stretched his modest budget to purchase a single ticket to the game, planning to fly in and out on the same day via Jetstar.

It was a big ask; hours of travel while suffering the effects of the cancer and its associated treatment, not to mention incontinence resulting from radiation therapy.

Kevin also had another important reason to try and return home as soon as possible. His wife Sandy, 55, suffers from illness including lupus and relies on her husband to give her medication and help her shower.

What began as a dream come true quickly turned into a nightmare, when Kevin found himself being kicked off a flight home due to his incontinence.

It was Kevin's dream to attend the exhibition match between Chelsea and Perth Glory on July 23. (Getty)

The Jetstar flights to the game from the Gold Coast to Melbourne and then on to Perth were without incident. However on the way back, Kevin found himself in a humiliating nightmare from which he is yet to recover.

"It happened at half-time," Kevin says, explaining that he was lining up to use the bathroom along with many of the over 55,000 in attendance at the event.

"I was trying to get out to go to the toilet -- we were at the top level and the toilets were down the bottom -- that's when I had the leak," he says.

Kevin wears Depend disposable underwear to help cope with his incontinence, normally going through two each day.

The Toowoomba man was carrying a spare pair in his bag which he'd stored in a locker and wasn't able to access until the game had wrapped up. By the time he retrieved his bag and found a taxi, he was struggling to make it in time to catch his flight home.

His late night flight was due to depart at 11.45pm. By the time Kevin arrived his flight was already boarding leaving Kevin with no choice but to take his seat on the aircraft.

He chose to fly with Jetstar for the dream trip. (Supplied )

The plane aisle was crammed with boarding passengers, meaning Kevin couldn't access the toilet to change.

"A steward came up and said, 'How are you?' I said, 'I'm fine thank you.' And she said, 'Are you sure?' And I said, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'"

According to Kevin the air steward then said, 'Didn't you have an accident?'

"That's when I got really embarrassed because people could hear," he says. The air steward told Kevin to wait while she consulted with a colleague who then informed Kevin he'd have to disembark from the plane for 'health and safety reasons.'

Kevin says he was in shock at how he was being treated and due to his distress, wasn't properly able to defend himself. He told them he had cancer and as a result suffers from incontinence but airline staff weren't able to assist him in any way.

"I was nearly crying and there were all these people listening, and then to be walked out while all these passengers were coming in," he says. "I'm still totally confused."

By the time they walked him over to a desk and told him they had to fill in some paperwork, Kevin knew he'd missed his flight home.

He was told he'd be placed on the next flight home at no further expense, however it wouldn't be leaving until Wednesday night, which was two days later.

Kevin wasn't offered accommodation or transport, nor did anyone check on his welfare during that time.

He says he was escorted off the plane and wasn't offered any assistance. (Supplied/Getty)

"I didn't want to make a scene in either area," Kevin says. "That would make it worse."

He tried to sleep on the floor of the airport that night but says his "mind was going everywhere."

He'd called Sandy and told her what was happening and she was distraught, later concluding staff had most likely mistaken him for a 'drunk old man' instead of one who was gravely ill and desperate to return home.

Before falling into a fitful sleep, Kevin tried to contact Jetstar for help as well as affordable accommodation in Perth.

He was eventually woken by passengers arriving for 5am flights on Tuesday morning.

The Toowoomba local found affordable accommodation for the evening at $80, spent $20 on taxis to and from the accommodation and was forced to purchase additional clothing as he hadn't packed for an overnight stay, let alone two.

That first day Kevin's accommodation wasn't available until 2pm so the sick man spent the day walking around the unfamiliar city of Perth until he could access his room and rest.

"There wasn't much else I could do," he says.

Kevin eventually arrived home on Thursday morning and says he was greeted by a relieved Sandy.

"She jumped all over me and kissed me," he says. "She was glad I was home."

Not only was Kevin left humiliated by the experience and out of pocket to the tune of approximately $120, he'd also lost three days’ pay. Kevin works as a taxi driver and only earns money when he's on the road.

Kevin and Sandy reached out to 9Honey to share their story after struggling to find contact details for Jetstar. They made the decision together to speak out after reading 9Honey's story about an autistic boy who was kicked off an Emirates flight.

Kevin and Sandy tell 9Honey they aren't motivated by money.

What motivates them is not wanting sick and disabled passengers to suffer a similar experience to them.

"Nobody cared that he had no money, or medication to last until he came home," Sandy tells 9Honey, later concluding they wrote her husband off as a 'drunk old man' despite the fact he'd explained he suffered from advanced prostate cancer and related incontinence.

"Something should be done about the terrible service people are experiencing."

While Chelsea went on to beat Perth Glory 1-nil, Kevin wishes his dream trip hadn't ended the way it did.

While Kevin admits to having suffered leakage, he wishes staff had been better trained to handle the situation.

"Either leave me be or explain to me what's happening and I could explain to them the situation, and I was trying to do that," he said.

Kevin says all he needed was compassion, discretion and help accessing an area in which he could change.

"Just simple courtesy and human rights," he says.

Sandy says the couple are still trying to recover from the ordeal. She doesn't understand why her husband was simply escorted off the flight and abandoned at the airport.

"We lost three days’ pay which to us is a lot of money," Sandy says. "We're both on pensions. It's just dreadful."

She says she also felt frustrated because she didn't have the money to help get him home sooner.

Thomas Janson, Travel Law Expert at Shine Lawyers, says The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person, in many areas of public life, including employment, education, provision of goods and services, accommodation, renting or buying a house or unit, clubs, sports and accessing public places, because of their disability.

"From the facts presented, it would appear that Jetstar has discriminated against this passenger on the grounds of disability on the basis that they have treated him less favourably than another passenger without a disability.

"This man was discriminated against for his disability and would potentially have grounds to seek compensation to recover his financial loss and emotional distress caused by the event."

A spokesperson from Jetstar sent the following statement to 9Honey:

"We’re very sorry to hear of Mr Eden’s experience and have contacted him directly. Our crew on board and customers were concerned about Mr Eden’s welfare and comfort ahead of travelling on a six-hour flight and so we offered to re-book him on the next available service after confirming he had accommodation.

"We appreciate this was a difficult situation and apologise that Mr Eden felt our teams did not support him as best they could."

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